Catholic school enlists 'Santa' to help it stay afloat

St. Florian, one of a half-dozen schools slated for closing by the Chicago Archdiocese this year, has recruited Santa to camp out on the roof of the school to help raise money to save it from closing. (Nuccio DiNuzzo/Chicago Tribune)

St. Florian, one of a half-dozen schools slated for closing by the Chicago Archdiocese this year, has recruited Santa to camp out on the roof of the school to help raise money to save it from closing. (Nuccio DiNuzzo/Chicago Tribune)

'Santa' will stay on Catholic school's roof until school raises $56,000, officials say.

At dusk Sunday, Santa rode up to a Far South Side school in a firetruck, led a cheerful crowd of parents, students and community members in a round of "Jingle Bells" and "Feliz Navidad," and took a group selfie before climbing on St. Florian School's roof.

And there he will stay, school officials and supporters say, until the small Catholic school in the Hegewisch neighborhood can raise the $56,000 necessary to keep its doors open for the 2015-16 school year.

"We are the forgotten part of Chicago because we are surrounded by all the steel mills that closed," said school board member Dawn Klein-Pilota. "We need to bring awareness here again."

In January, St. Florian was one of six schools slated to close during the 2014-15 school-year by the cash-strapped Archdiocese of Chicago, when its superintendent said it could no longer provide a subsidy that the school had been depending on the past few years. Since then, more schools have been slated to close, but they were not given an option to fundraise and stay open.

After a whirlwind of parent- and staff-led fundraising and cost-cutting to prove that the school could be self-sustaining, St. Florian then was able to stay open this year. The money came through the generosity of a community that did not want to see the 107-year-old school close, according to parents and the school's principal, Krista Wilkinson. More than $140,000 came piecemeal via carwashes, bake sales, pledges, vendor shows, a banquet, pancake breakfasts and raffles.

Yet unlike two other Catholic schools that saved themselves — Our Lady of Victory in Chicago's Jefferson Park neighborhood and St. Christopher Catholic School in Midlothian — St. Florian only raised enough money for one year, meaning that the school must redouble its fundraising efforts annually until it can increase enrollment enough to replace fundraising, according to Mirian Rodriguez, a parent who was helping organize Sunday evening's event.

"It's a big commitment, but it's worth it," said Diane Zbinden, one of several parents who have been working "endless" hours to keep the school open since the January announcement. "It's important to the community. It's important to Catholic education. It's important to the close-knitted school."

The challenge this year has been keeping the momentum going, according to Van Bensett, another parent who has given countless hours to fundraising efforts in the community since January. So far this year, the school has raised $55,000, Bensett said, and needs another $56,000 by January.

"I think it's been a little bit harder (this year)," Bensett said. "This year we've been doing fundraising, but we haven't expanded our base of donors. We want to expand our base of donors because you can only ask the same people (for money) so many times."

The school is accepting checks and is raising funds online, at GoFundMe and PayPal.

Until the school raises enough money, Jesse Terrazas — the Chicago police sergeant and parent of a St. Florian sixth-grader, who volunteered to be Santa — said he will make do.

"I will be up here to wave to people in the evening," Terrazas said. "We will go inside this wonderful hut here. I have books, and hopefully we can find some Internet access. I still need to contact the North Pole and communicate with the elves."